Sky High 2: Sidekicks
by DJ Comicbook
Summary: Quincy, a powerless freshman, arrives at Sky High.  Will and Layla are ready to graduate while bullies, supertournaments and a world destroying plot are all in play! New students! New powers! New Teachers! New Adventures! Sky High 2!
1. Opening Scene, Opening Credits

Sky High 2:

Sidekicks

Quincy, a powerless freshman, arrives at Sky High. Will and Layla are ready to graduate while bullies, super-tournaments and a world destroying plot are all in play! New students! New powers! New Teachers! New Adventures! Sky High 2!

Area 51

1995

Over the hot desert of midday Nevada, a large military transport chopper soars. It's forward and rear rotors whipping up dust as it makes its low approach towards a distant bunker on the horizon. Hanging out the side of the open doors The Commander, in his trademark red white and blue narrows his eyes, pulling himself back inside with a sigh. He faces a group of six powerful individuals standing with him. Friends and heroes all.

"We're making our final approach, Commander, the General says things are getting hot down there." The pilot calls over his shoulder flicking some switches.

Commander nods and looks over his group. His dear wife, Jetstream, with matching costume always ready to soar into action. Miss Peace, in her soft flowing white and pink garments with her powerful healing abilities may be necessary on this dangerous mission. Paragon, the mighty telekinetic in his black and green body armor and his wife, Isis, a beautiful diety summoner wears a green and jade Egyptian garnment. Finally, Dr. Feelgood, a sarcastic empath dresses in what appears to be clothes from the 70s, afro included.. "We're ready." Commander said with finality.

Dr. Feelgood peered at the crew over his thick rose-colored glasses. "So who else feels forced into this by our freedom-loving government?"

Miss Peace spoke quietly. "Remember, we're here to save the world. The government's just our ride. No pressure."

Paragon laughs a hearty laugh. "Saving the world? No pressure at all… we've done that before a couple times, right, Steve?" Paragon, in his bold green and black suit steps to the edge of the helicopter next to The Commander, watching soldiers and military scatter out of a hidden bunker.

The Commander laughs with a nod. "This is Area 51, Justin. None of us know what we're going to face down there."

"This is Area 51 Commander." Isis says with a sad smile. "I think we ALL know exactly what we're going to be facing down there.

The Commander turns with a grim look before he feels Jetstream's reassuring hand on his shoulder. He turns to look his wife in the eye as the military transport chopper comes to a hover above the entrance.

"Paragon and I will blaze a trail. Dr. Feelgood, Miss Peace, you take care of any survivors and help get those people out. Isis, Jetstream. Cover our tails. Alright Superteam! Engage!" The six heroes leap from the helicopter, landing in crouches rolls and some gliding softly to rest. Commander grabs one large door as Paragon reaches out and the other door is encased in green and both a ripped off. They dash into the secured facility, with sirens blazing, its stark metallic walls bathed in pulsating red lights.

The crew meets up in a hallway, having easily accomplished their goals. "Everyone's out." Miss Peace calls. Paragon gestures towards Dr. Feelgood "Where is this coming from? Can you pinpoint it?"

"Hold your horses, cowboy…" Dr. Feelgood touches his temples "Hmmmm…" he spins suddenly, towards a hallway and points. "This way… dear god it's powerful…"

The Commander surges forward, followed closely by Paragon as the come to a large sealed door. The two large men instantly grab ahold of it, but it simply will not budge. Jetstream, kneeling examines the door. "It's as though it were meant to hold an army."

"…but not a god…" Isis steps forward, her green tassles flowing and dangling. She places her palms together, and then into a series of hand signals as she closes her eyes and whispers. "Come, Set."

Suddenly, a large black translucent cat-man arises from her back in a purring roar, stepping free the being steps forward and through the metal door, as though it were nothing. Moments later, the doors open. Instantly, Dr. Feelgood begins grabbing his head. "Armageddon! It's name is Armageddon!" He calls.

The Commander turns to see his friend fall, but is suddenly distracted by the purple bursts of energy emanating from the frail gray alien in it's tube, it's tentacles flailing against the cracking glass. It screeches an unearthly screech. The Commander's jaw drops. He recovers his composure after a moment, when the Alien's tentacle bursts through the glass and hurls a car-sized computer console at the group. "Move!" He yells.

Paragon stretches his hands forth and catches the console, tossing it aside, and just as quickly a tentacle backhands him against the wall. The Commander catches the tentacle as it whips back towards him. "Josie! Distract it!"

Jetstream, complying, soars into the air, deftly dodging gray oily tentacles as they burst through the containing glass the alien hides behind. Before she knows it, a tentacle grabs her by the leg and begins to flail her around.

"He's hurt… " Miss Peace whispers as she helps Paragon to his feet. "He's vulnerable."

Dr. Feelgood steps up, coughing, as though hurt by the creatures very thoughts. "And he's going to do his best to take all of us out with him. He's very angry for being stuck here."

Dr. Feelgood looks at Paragon for a long time. He glances at the others. "Something has to be done, Justin."

Paragon gets up slowly. He looks over the beast. He realizes how terrible things have become. How little choice is left. How easily this creature will escape if left to its own devices. He feels… ready to die. "Retreat. I'll hold him off."

Miss Peace gasps. "Paragon, no, you…"

Paragon turns to give Miss Peace a deep glare. "Overheal me… I want hormones and adrenaline. Now. Make it count…"

Miss Peace, slowly… tentatively at first, puts her hands on Paragon… they glow white and the man takes a deep fulfilling breath. He opens his eyes. They're glowing green, he surges forwards in a burst of greenness. "Let my team go!" Green bolts of energy fly at tentacles, freeing Commander, Jetstream and Isis. "Commander, pull everyone else out! I'll hold him off!"

"Paragon…" Commander's voice hesitates.

"Do it!" Paragon turns for a second still blocking the alien's attacks with green tentacles of his own. "Now!" He yells as he turns back forwards.

Dr. Feelgood and Miss Peace help Commander off the ground. "He's right, Steve, we have to get out of here."

There is a long moment as The Commander looks around at what's going on, the direness of the situation. "… Fall back! Jetstream, the door!"

Almost before he finishes, Jetstream is at the controls of the door, typing away like mad. "Almost… got it!" The large doors begin to close as the crew rushes out of the central containment area, Paragon, airborne, pushing back and forth with the alien. Isis stops at the edge of the doorway, just inside the room as the doors still shut.

Miss Peace turns around, seeing her friend is still inside. "Alicia! No!"

Isis just hangs her head and smiles, while doing her hand signals. "If it were your husband… you'd do the same thing."

"No!" Miss Peace slams into the door just as it shuts her friend, Isis, inside with her husband and the alien Armageddon. "No!" She slides to the ground crying. "I… no… I wouldn't…" she weeps as Dr. Feelgood grabs her by the arm.

"Ra." Isis says, against the just shut door. "Help me now." She turns and leaps into the air, carried by large rays of light that soar towards the alien, bursting his containment finally before forming into large white hands that hold him down by the neck. Paragon whips his hands out frantically, grabbing tentacles like loose cords and binding them together before hovering next to his wife.

Paragon holds Isis with one hand. "You… came back…"

"Of course. I love you." Her eyes met his. The alien continued to flail in the background, convulsing more and more rapidly.

Paragon smiled genuinely. "What about Quincy…"

Isis' eyes saddened. She reached up with a hand to Paragon's cheek. "He is strong… like his father. He'll be fine." There was a pause… room for doubt. "Besides, there's not much on this planet some telekinesis and Egyptian gods can't take care of."

Wry smiles went back and forth. "I love you, Alicia Knight."

Isis beamed as she leaned into her husband, embracing him. "And I love you… Paragon."

And then, Armageddon exploded. The room was whited out.

Outside the military transport chopper flew off with the remainder of the superteam, four dejected individuals. They were all intently looking backwards, waiting for Paragon and Isis to emerge from the bunker despite the impossibility, like the superheroes they were. All they saw was a white mushroom cloud burst forth from the sand where the bunker had once been. Tears fell from each face save the almost comatose Dr. Feelgood. Jetstream wrapped her arms around her husband. "We will never speak of this again. Agreed."

"I'd hope not ma'am… everything that just happened is XS Classified." The pilot chimed in.

The heroes seemed to ignore him, belaguredly chiming in. "Agreed."

"What will we tell their son?" The Commander winced, gripping the edge of the chopper door and crushing it unintentionally.

"The truth…" Dr. Feelgood chimed in. "His parents died as heroes."

--

Maxville

Present Day

We are treated to a aerial view of Maxville, we find ourselves centering on a relatively downtrodden area, similar to Suicide Slum in Metropolis or Crime Alley in Gotham City. Life appears relatively normal on the bright afternoon as we center in on a specific apartment building.

MALCOLM DAVID KELLEY

Inside a young man punches on a punching bag, shifting back forth in his little workout gear before backing up to kick at it a few times then switch sides. Very upbeat intense classical music plays, perhaps with a heavy urban beat under it as he continues his work out.

MICHAEL ANGORANO

The boy switches to doing pushups, and he challenges himself to do more with more weight and elevation in different shots. While he continues his workout we get to look around his walls, there's newspaper clippings about the exploits of Paragon and Isis, even photo about their large public wedding.

TIM CURRY

There's also clippings from events of Sky High 1, including the "The Sky is Falling." "Colossal Man, new hero, larger than life." And "Rumors of Superhero training school in the clouds" are all there, leading into the graphic title marquee.

SKY HIGH 2

With the two being scattered on stylistically after the school logo is shown against the open window of the room. We come back to the young man who is at this point getting out of the shower and has his scrawny toned look as he puts on a black undershirt and a silver-and-black tribal styled open shirt on top of it. He laces up his tennis shoes and looks in the mirror, putting on his glasses.

"QUINCY! GET READY FOR SCHOOL!"

Quincy sighs. "Coming Auntie." Quicy grabs a sleek black backpack and struts downstairs.

TAYLOR DOOLEY

ALYSON STONER

A little girl, about 6, her hair in pigtails meets him at the bottom of the stairs. She is clutching on to her Bratz doll for dear life. "You can take me to the bus today, Quinny?"

Quincy sighs. "Yeah, get your shoes on Vanessa…"

From the kitchen area, a woman in nurse's scrubs comes strutting around the living room, tidying things up and tossing Quincy his PSP. "I get a half hour lunchbreak from the hospital, and you two have already managed to dirty up the house… look at you! You're not even awake yet! Get your shoes on, Vanessa."

STEVEN STRAIT

DANIELLE PANABAKER

J.R. VILLARREAL

"Yes Mommy…"

The little girl finally complies as the woman stands face to face with Quincy. "I know it's your first day of high school, Quincy, I know it feels like a lot of pressure, but please, don't worry so much about all the superhero stuff and just make some friends… okay?"

Quincy looks his aunt directly in the eyes. "I don't have any powers, Aunt Keisha. I can't worry about it much can I?"

Keisha Grimes, as her badge says, laughs and kisses him on the forehead. "You don't listen to me much do you? Just like your mother…" She smiles and walks off back towards the kitchen area.

LYNDA CARTER

BRUCE CAMPBELL

DAVE FOLEY

Quincy grimaces deep inside, he whispers, almost to himself. "I bet you if I did have powers, I'd be at least a sidekick… not some… hospital flunkie…" satisfied and turning around towards the front door, Quincy finds Aunt Keisha with her finger in his face.

"Are you mocking my profession, boy? The same profession that puts food on your table and clothes on your back? Is that what you're mocking, big man?" Keisha leans forward, her lithe movements all bubbling to the surface again. It had been a long time since Aunt Keisha had done any heroing, but Quincy knew he wasn't going to test her.

"N-n-no… no, ma'am." Quincy backed up a bit, genuinely intimidated.

Keisha nodded, her face drawn into a satisfied calm. "Good. Now hurry up, your sister's bus will be here any minute. They're expecting me back at the hospital soon."

KEVIN MCDONALD

DEE JAY DANIELS

KELLY VITZ

"C'mon kid… you heard your mom." As Quincy turned, grabbing Vanessa's little hand and opening the door, Keisha turned into a cloud of pink swirling energy, which disappeared into thin air just a split second afterwards.

Out on the street, the neighborhood rolled on, a lot of people were just hanging around waiting for something to do. There seemed to be a mean looking set of young men at the store. After a little while Vanessa and Quincy stopped at a corner.

Vanessa, cute as a button with her crumpled golden brown hair and purple jacked looked up at Quincy. "Hey, Cuzin Quinny."

"Yeah…" Quincy looked around, generally disinterested.

"Are you going to be a superhero one day?"

Quincy laughed out loud. He looked down at his young cousin, who stared, awaiting an answer, oblivious to any comedy involved. This made Quincy laugh all the more, getting him crazy looks from all over. "Well, I promise, if I ever become a superhero, I'll take you flying one day, cool?"

NICHOLAS BRAUN

KURT RUSSELL

KELLY PRESTON

This made the little girl giddily happy, to the point of jumping up and down and clapping as her bus arrived. She hugged her cousin around the knees. "Thank you Quinny. You're cool." The bus door opened, the weary driver opened the door and Vanessa bounded up the stairs to join the other first graders in their seats. Quincy simply nodded to the driver, who grunted as he closed the door and pulled off.

Quincy Knight waited at the bus stop. His black, white capped Converse tied snugly beneath his loosely fit black jeans. He reached into his pocket and switched replay on his iPod while simultaneously pulling out his earphones and putting them in his ears.

Around his back a simple black and grey bookbag carried his textbooks and laptop computer. Quincy turned the page in the large novel he was reading. "Sherlock Holmes Anthology" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He ran his hands over his head, through a set of crisp black braided corn rows and looked up.

STEVE ZAHN

CARY-HIROYUKI TAGAWA

CHIAKI KURIYAMA

The corner was quiet and serene in it's own way. Some guys drove by playing their music. Quincy pulled out his iPod and put in his earphones. His own unique music started playing as a gleaming bus glided into view, bearing the marking Maxville City Schools, however it was obviously shinier and cleaner than anything else in the area.

A long slow whistle escaped from Quincy as the larger than life bus pulled up. As it opened and the stairs descended, he looked at the bus driver, a perky young woman who greeted him spiritedly as though she had drunk a large amount of caffeine.

"Hey!" She greeted with a wave. "Come on! Adventure awaits!" She gleefully invited him. Her overexcitedness making Quincy wary. Slowly he stepped towards the bus as she typed on her pad some.

JAY CHOU

MISSI PYLE

LUCY LAWLESS

"Quincy Knight, right?"

He slowly, fearfully nodded.

"Well, yeah, come on! Mustn't dawdle, now!"

As Quincy took a deep breath and pushed himself up onto the bus all of the kids stopped their yelling, throwing and chatting to look at him for a second, then as quickly as they had stopped, they returned to their goings on as though nothing had happened.

The stairs retracted. The bus driver called over her shoulder. "Go ahead and find a seat, hun… things'll get bumpy in a few minutes."

The bus was almost full. He walked to the third row and the older kid sitting there put his hand down. "I don't sit next to sidekick freshmen. Scram."

MUSIC BY RANDY JACKSON

Quincy stopped. The hair on the back of his neck straightened. Was he going to have to appear weak the moment he arrived? Quincy stopped. The boy stood up. He was about 6'1" and he appeared to be older. A senior and much better with his powers. Quincy's mind ran over this for another second and then Quincy turned to keep walking towards the back of the bus. The Senior sat down. "Scrub sidekick." He grimaced and began to tell his neighbors about 'That kid's' lesser qualities.

Quincy moved towards the next open seat. "Taken." A girl scowled at him. Quincy's brow furrowed as he moved on.

"Sorry, dude, this seat's reserved." Was the next reply.

Apparently this thing caught on because Quincy soon found himself at the back of the bus in the last empty seat. He turned as he sat down. He contemplated. He was a freshman. He had, truth be told, no powers to speak of. He was smart. He was agile. He was not the most powerful. He whispered to the person in front of him. "Hey, that guy in the front of the bus... who was he?"

SCREENPLAY BY D.J. COMICBOOK

The girl glanced over her shoulder. "That's Allen. His mom was a super... he's got regenerative capabilities. He heals from anything." She turned to look at him for a second for emphasis. "Anything."

Quincy smiled to himself. Allen could be hurt but not killed. Perfect. Quincy noticed the bus driver turn down what he knew to be a dead end street. Quincy's face drew into resolve he popped up and stalked forward. "Allen." Quincy spoke up curtly.

The senior, Allen stood up and turned around with his hands clenched. "What?" He was more shocked and angry that this scrub freshman was speaking to him than anything else.

PRODUCED BY ANDREW GUNN

Quincy gritted his teeth and forced out a tense tone. "Do you know who I am?"

Allen's eyes went wide and his teeth clenched. "You're nobody with a capital N."

"No fighting! No powers!" The bus driver chimed in a sing-songy voice...

Quincy nodded. "I'm the guy that's going to take my seat from you. And I don't want you to ever sit there again." Quincy couldn't help a slight smile from crossing his face, fortunately, it was able to come off as thingyy rather than goofy.

Allen laughed. He grabbed Quincy by the shirt. Alarmed, Quincy flailed a little bit. He hadn't been expecting such a tight grip.

DIRECTED BY MIKE MITCHELL

"And what are you gonna do about it little boy?" Allen's grip tightened.

"Buckle up, now kiddies!" The bus driver yelped. "We're going SKY! HIGH!" She held one of her

Quincy couldn't repress a wide smile. "Just remember, all the cool kids sit at the back of the bus anyway." Quincy grabbed a pressure point on Allen's hand and twisted it to force Allen to let him go. With a deft spin, Quincy ducked around Allen and slid into his seat just the seat belts locked on.

Outside the bus roaredAllen turned to see Quincy smiling wide before the bus' rockets hurled it from the ground.

"Aaaaaaahhhh!!!" The bus screamed as Allen went flying to the back of the bus, slamming against the back door.

The bus rocketed into the air, finding its way through the clouds and soaring over the pristine hovercampus of Sky High. It's convex underside of the campus hovered perfectly still, it's glowing lights pulsating with the kind of energy one suspect would be able to hold up several buildings and a lush green campus.

The bus driver smiled in spite of herself with a giddy chuckle. "To your right we have Sky High, kept aloft by the latest in antigravity propulsion, with redundant systems. It's constantly moving about the city, it's location disclosed to specific individuals. Teachers, Bus Drivers..."

"Whooo!" A yelling voice screamed by the bus, spreading his arms as he spiraled towards the airborne campus.

The bus driver sighed, amused. "… and select students."

The bus glided to a stop in front of the school, with a line of other buses. The door opened and students began stepping off. A few moments later Quincy Knight stepped off of the bus. "Welcome to Sky High Quincy!" The excited driver giggled. . Quincy nodded and took a deep breath as he looked across the field. He noticed Allen glaring at him, waiting his turn to get off of the bus and Quincy decided it would be wise to head to this power placement.

He stepped around the bus and was amazed. Kids flying and landing, powers being used. An impromptu skating rink had been formed on the side. A sign was being held up for Freshmen to convene at. It was all so surreal. So much to take in…

CONTINUED IN PART 2

Meet Quincy's new friends… and enemies! Find out what Layla has been up to. Sky High 2!


	2. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

SKY HIGH 2:

SIDEKICKS

PART 2

The campus of sky high unfolded before Quincy Knight, the 14 year old freshman, arriving to the floating school just moments ago, for the very first time in his life. Quincy took a deep breath as his eyes widened at the incredible sight. Several students floated onto the school grounds out of the clouds, apparently, having flown there under their own power as opposed to the rocketing school buses. To Quincy's right a student had used their ice powers to create a makeshift rink which several kids slid on playfully in their shoes and on their backs.

To the left as Quincy was walking he noticed a strange competition… two older boys seemed to be comparing super-strength, picking up rocks and squeezing them into dust, perhaps seeing who could crush the harder stone the quickest, and several students gathered around to cheer them on as they crushed rocks with their bare hands.

Gawking at this Quincy slammed right into another student, collapsing onto his butt before catching himself with his hands. Picking up his iPod and backpack, he came face to face with a girl in an orange Sky High basketball jersey. She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow at Quincy as she picked herself up, dusting off her blue jeans. "What the heck is your problem, man?"

"Oh, my bad, I…" Quincy was a bit shocked and still trying to get used to the strange environment.

"Do you think just cuz I'm a freshman you can push me around?" The girl in orange stood face to face with Quincy, arms tense, daring him to even flinch.

"But… I'm a freshman too…" Quincy held up his hands, innocently, attempting to back away, his eyebrows arched in almost disbelief.

"Watch your step, next time, half-pint…" The girl stepped forwards, shoulder-checking Quincy hard, causing him to take a few steps back. Quincy shook his head, mumbling to himself.

"Ha. Dude… looks like you just ran afoul of Amanda Miller."

Quincy, doesn't even look up at first. "A-who?"

There is a pause as Quincy looks up, the young Hispanic boy standing there in his red cap and black t-shirt with a bright red star on it is confused. "C'mon… Amanda "The Killer" Miller? You mean you haven't heard of her?"

Quincy stares and blinks. "Do I look like someone who knows what is going on up here? At all?"

The red-capped kid laughs. "Biggest tomboy here, she can do ANYthing…"

"Anything?" Quincy eyes the girl as she continues on her way, shoving other students aside. A larger kid pushes someone else out of the way and they go flying. They attempt to follow through with their momentum to shove Amanda to the ground, and she sidesteps and shoves them into the ground, shoulders deep.

"My cousin was making fun of her one time and flew away…" Quincy's new friend taps him on the shoulder. "She chased him halfway across town… in the AIR. And don't get me started on the fireball story."

Quincy raises an eyebrow as the girl disappears inside the school building. "And she holds grudges, I'll bet?"

"Like Superman holds sunlight."

"Great." Quincy sighed shaking his head, rubbing his temple. "I have a worthy nemesis…" he turns and extends his hand. "Quincy Knight… son of Paragon and Isis."

"For real? Cool! Oscar Reyes. I'm a power booster." Oscar nods slowly. "Your parents were pretty big heroes! My dad works at the Hero Registration Office. He told me about them one time." The two boys begin walking towards the school. "So… what do you know about Sky High?"

"Um… it trains future superheroes and children of superheroes how to use their powers."

"Well, duh… that's it?" Oscar looks over at Quincy expectantly.

Quincy, still walking just kind of shrugs. "You're mocking me now?"

Oscar laughs and pats Quincy on the back joyfully. "Yeah, I have a feeling we're gonna be real cool…" The guys look up to see a few students gathering around a young lady holding up a sign reading 'Incoming Freshmen' for all to see. "I think that's us…"

There, beneath the sign stood a redheaded girl in a green blouse and some khaki Capri shorts. "Hey, guys, welcome to Sky High!" She was a bit on the excited side, but perhaps that was normal. "I'm Layla Green, your Student Body President this year, and I want to be the first to welcome you. Right now we're going to take a short tour of the school, meet the Principal and then do a little exercise called power placement. I promise it won't be as bad as it sounds, kay?" Her wide grin made her a bit hard to turn down, but Quincy and Oscar looked at each other, questioning her sincerity.

Next to Quincy a young girl raised her hand. She had dazzling olive skin with dark brown tresses flowing down below her shoulder over a pink tank top and a white skirt with white tennis shoes that had pink trim on them. Her slim glasses fit firmly over her nose and she had an expression of calm interest.

"Oh, hey! Go ahead…" President Green nodded to her. "Oh, and share your name, please!"

A slightly embarrassed grin escaped the girl in pink. "Hi… I'm Selina… Selina Banner, I heard things about this 'Power Placement,' that there was a lot of talk about totally getting rid of the whole 'Hero-Sidekick' dichotomy to empower solo heroes and teams..."

Quincy mouthed the name again to himself, staring, a bit awkwardly at Selina as she spoke to the student leader. His eyes sparkled a bit and he found it extremely hard to hold his mouth closed. It seemed as though sweet music played in the background.

Layla nodded slowly with warm smile. "Well…" there was a pause. "That's more Coach Boomer's job. You'll meet him in a little while. It's not as bad as when I was a freshman, I'll say that." There was a beat as Layla's warm smile slowly returned. "And there's no problem with students moving between training programs…" she looked around. "Well, we'd better get going…"

Inside the building, a long hallway with students shuffling back and forth before the school day glimmered with rays of sun from the high windows over the bays of blue and orange lockers. Layla was point out things left and right. "And this is Science Room 3, or the Mad Science Lab… Mr. Oblangata will be teaching here…" Layla turned and almost in a whisper… "Whatever you do, do NOT let the genetically engineered super-skunk bite you." Stepping towards a statue she raised her hands, pointing out the 20 foot hallway adornment's arm-mounted jetpacks, old air force style jacket and goggles.

"And here we have the statue of Captain Michael Quincy Sky, for whom our school is named."

In sepia we have clips of Michael Sky soaring through the sky in clouds amid machine gun-equipped biplanes and mid-air explosions.

"Captain Sky was one of the first superheroes, using his quick reflexes and sharp eyes to fly through the air against the Axis Powers of World War II. These gauntlets are actually fully functioning replicas of the jet gauntlets he used to defeat the German air reserves coming to assist the Axis forces at Normandy. If it wasn't for Captain Sky…" Layla looks up at the statue… "World War II would've been lost…"

As Layla was finishing her reflection, a tall woman in all white came around the corner. Layla's smile grew. "And, I'd like to introduce you all to Principal Powers, our Headmistress…"

A gentle smile came from the poised woman in the white pantsuit. She nodded to Layla lightly. "Thank you Miss Green. You may prepare for class."

Layla waved to the freshmen and hurried off, about her business. The principal watched her depart and then turned back to the students extends her hands. "Welcome, once again, to Captain Michael Q Sky High School. Or, as we call it, Sky High."

There was a hand sticking up out of the crowd. The Principal turned and her smile became wry for a moment. "Ah, Miss Selina Banner. Your school records actually have recommendations. Impressive. What is your question?"

Selina took a deep breath. "Principal Powers, is it true that students have lost their lives while attending Sky High?"

The Principal nodded slowly. "We've had some close calls, but those rumors are untrue." She took a deep breath as she looked over the group. "But I do want to take some time to warn you." Her face drew out to become very serious as she looked over the students, seemingly one by one. "This is not middle school. This is not child's play. You will have to work hard, you will learn a great deal and you will forge memories here you will have for a lifetime. Do not… I repeat… do not squander it. Do not get on my bad side… and do not use your powers outside of the gym. Am I clear?"

Mumbles and nods came from the assembled group.

"Am I clear, class?"

"Yes Ma'am." The ground called in unison, with some trailing "Principal Powers" reverbing in the hallway.

"Wonderful then." The warm, gentle, slight smile returned. "The Gym is to your right. Comets away."

In a flash, Principal Powers was enveloped in bright white light, it seemed to encompass and become her as it rolled into a ball, perhaps three feet in diameter of pure light, floating calmly for just a moment before rocketing down the hallway with a whoosh of air, gone before another question could possibly be asked.

"Whew!" Oscar whistled. "This is the coolest school on Earth."

Quincy laughed a bit nervously, looking at the door to the gym they all seemed strangely propelled towards. "Yeah… except we're not actually ON the Earth at all." He whispered. Quincy caught a glimpse of Selina through the crowd and began to work his way over towards her.

Oscar hissed "Whoa, where are you going?"

Quincy simply held his hand up as he caught up with the girl in pink tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm Quincy… Selina, right?"

Selina looked over Quincy for a moment, a bit skeptical. "Yes. I'm Selina, Quincy, you said?"

"Yeah, yeah… listen, that was pretty brave to ask the Principal that question… people actually died while going here?"

Selina smiled sheepishly for a moment. "They are just rumors. I heard them from a friend that used to go here…"

"How long ago?" Quincy seemed a bit concerned. "They didn't have powers or something?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't know… he went here a long time ago. Who's that guy?"

From the floorboards, a trap door opened and from it rose a man in a blue swishy warm-up jacket and blue running shorts. His white tube socks almost reaching his knees. He had large sunglasses on, a big blue baseball cap and a clipboard.

Oscar sidled up behind Quincy and Selina. "That's the one and only Coach "Sonic Boom" Boomer. They say he's the hardest teacher here…"

"Alright, kiddies. Step up." He looked over the hesitant crowd. "C'mon, we haven't got all day, and there's quite a few of you. This is, for the slower "heroes" among you, Power Placement." He took a deep breath as he pulled out his clip board and began reading.

His deadpan uninterested voice droned as he read quickly. "My name is Coach Boomer, I will be teaching you the basics of superheroic action this year. First I will need to assign you to a hero program using power placement. While all superheroes are equal, we will place you in a group that will best suit you abilities…" Huffing, Coach Boomer, speedily skimmed through the rest. "Power Hero, Stunt Hero, Support Hero, yadda yadda yadda…" Finally, Coach Boomer just crumpled up the piece of paper he was reading from and threw it behind him.

"This is how it's going to work freshmen… step up on the platform, show your power, get placed. Get me? Good. You, in the back, talking."

Oscar, one arm on Quincy's shoulder, the other on Selina's looked shocked. "Oh… I wasn't talking, Sir I…"

"Up!" Boomer thumbed towards the stage and Oscar slowly peeled through the crowd and walked up the short stairs.

"Name?" Bommer flicked out his pen. There was silence. "NAME!" an echo resounded throughout the gym as Oscar was even pushed back a bit by the force of Coach Boomer's voice.

"Oscar Reyes…" Oscar looked at Quincy, who simply shrugged.

"Show us your mojo." Boomer looked

"Well… you can't SEE it."

"Support Hero." Boomer sighed nonchalantly. "Next."

"No wait, I have a power!"

Impatient, the teacher just looked at him tapping his foot.

"I… I can boost powers. Yell something.."

Coach Boomer laughed. "Alright, you're not the first kid to come up here and try to fake a power. Next!" Boomer's power caused his voice to echo and the force of the soundwaves was visible, distorting the air in front of his face.

Oscar Reyes closed his eyes and reached out his hand again. "Okay… again. The same force…"

"Next!" A sonic boom erupted through the gym, knocking most kids onto the ground and shocking the Coach.

"Alright enough, kid!" Coach Boomer pushed Oscar away by the head before sighing and smoothing his jacket visibly disturbed. "No offensive or defensive capability, SUPPORT HERO!" The sound echoed through the gym. Oscar's shoulders sunk a bit as he slumped off. "You there… Pretty in Pink… stop preening and get up here."

Selina a bit taken aback slowly walked up the platform. The Coach looked her over for a moment. "Wait… have I seen you before?" His eyes narrowed.

Selina shrugged a bit looking up into the air as if trying to recall. "No, sir, I don't think so…"

Coach nodded slowly. "Alright show me, your mojo."

Selina however looked up and saw a large old car hanging from the ceiling. She sheepishly raised her hand. "Um… is it true that you drop cars on people?"

Coach Boomer took off his hat and produced a small device with two big buttons on it. "Do you WANT me to drop a car on you?" He demanded.

Selina quickly shook her head. "No, sir!"

Boomer grunted. "Then show me your power. Go."

Oscar stood next to Quincy, leaning over and whispering discreetly, his backhand over his mouth. "Hey, that car thing is broken."

Quincy's head spun towards Oscar. "What do you mean?"

"I was eyeing it while I was up there and the wire's splayed." Oscar nodded slowly, squinting and leaning forward a bit.

"You're sure, like, life and death sure?" Quincy's voice was a bit tense, his whole demeanor was a bit edgy, his hands had actually started sweating.

Up on stage, Selina managed to turn her hands, slowly into animal claws. Selina seemed to be concentrating very hard to make this happen, before she simply stopped to take some deep breaths and recover. "I'm… I'm a shapeshifter… I just need some more practice."

Boomer rubbed his chin as he looked over the girl. "Shapeshifter, eh? High Misdirection, low Damage Power, STUNT HERO!" Boomer said proudly as he eschewed Selina offstage. "You, with the man-braids. Step up."

Quincy's heart stopped. His feet seemed to move on their own, propelling him to the front of the line. He stepped up onto the platform. He looked over Boomer, then smiled after taking a deep breath.

Boomer nodded curtly, "Name and Power."

"Quincy Knight. Probability manipulation."

Boomer raised his glasses. "You're the Knights' kid? Damn. Time flies. Didn't your parents have telekinesis and God powers, I figured you'd inherit them, right?"

Quincy tilted his head with a cocky smile at his teacher. "What is probability if not the telekinesis of the gods?"

Boomer stood still for a moment before lowering his glasses. "Your funeral kid. Show me."

Quincy pulls out a quarter and deftly flicks it into the air. While it's there, he softly speaks. "Heads." He extends his hand, sinking with the coin as he catches it. Sure enough, it says heads. He flicks it again, his tongue slightly sticking out the side of his mouth as he concentrates. "Tails."

It lands in his hand Tails and he tosses the coin again. "Hea-"

Coach Boomer lashes out, snatching the coin from the air and slamming it onto his forearm. He seems almost angry. "You trying to get over on me?"

Quincy's hands tighten, his breath almost gets short as he forces himself to act normal. "Heads…"

The coach slowly removes his hand, Quincy not taking an eye off of him. "Heh… look at that. Heads." Coach Boomer nods with a smile. Too bad it's not useful. Sup-"

"What? I've got plenty of offensive uses for my powers!"

Coach Boomer laughs. "Yes your powers are already offending me…"

"What are the chances that your little falling car won't work on me."

Boomer looks at Quincy in slight disbelief for a long moment. "You're… serious?"

Quincy folds his arms in challenge. Boomer flicks through his papers on his clips. "Alright, liability waiver, Quincy Knight. Good bye. Car." Boomer slams on the green button his palm. Nothing happens. The old rusty car at the top of the gym remains there, swaying ever so slightly. "I said Car!" He slams the button again. And again. After a few times he looks at Quincy with a chuckle. "A fine stunt for a stunt hero…"

"Oh really?" Quincy steps forwards, invading Coach Boomer's personal space. "What are the chances that you can make me a Power Hero?"

Boomer laughed. "Pretty slim kid."

"Really? So how come you're going to anyway?" Quincy smiled, almost arrogantly.

Boomer looked over Quincy one more time, shaking his head. "You think you can cut it as a Power Hero? Fine. You'll be begging me to make you Support within the week. Get off my stage."

Beaming Quincy cartwheeled off of the stage, landing in a crouch he hopped up giving Oscar a high five. "That was awesome, Quincy!"

Quincy laughed. "I tried to tell him!"

Oscar laughed along and then he stopped. Quincy stopped as well turning and looking over his shoulder at who had taken the podium.

"Name and Powers, kid."

"Amanda Miller." The girl in the orange jersey with the number '23' on it smiled. "Amanda Miller, Power Sponge." A wicked smile flew across her face. Boomer's brows raised. "Power copying eh? Finally, a REAL power… do her!" Boomer pointed to a random student.

Amanda, with a spin began to create a tornado, it lifted her into the air before she stopped spinning and dropped back to the ground. "Wind Manipulation." Amanda gave the girl an 'ok' sign with her hand and a wicked smirk. "Not too bad… glad I'm not stuck with it."

Boomer was doubly pleased. "Alright! Do hers!" Boomer pointed to Selina.

Amanda smiled again. "Shapeshifting can be challengeing…" Amanda's features and body changed until she resembled Principal Powers. "But if you master it…" Again the features changed until they matched President Bush. "There's nowhere you won't be able to get into…" Amanda's features turned her into a strange leopard monster before shifting back to normal.

Boomer beamed with joy as he pointed to Quincy. "Do the Knight kid!"

"No!" Quincy yelled. "I've made it very improbable that you can copy my powers."

Amanda narrowed his eyes at him. "Hey, you're that kid from the yard earlier!"

"Lets get this show on the road no more sidekick sideshows." Boomer grabs Amanda's wrist and hoists it up in the air. And Miller is a "POWER HEROOO!!" The sound echoed throughout the building.

Oscar and Quincy left the gym in a bit of a rush. Quincy grimaced… Oscar just shook his head. "That girl is trouble…" Oscar quipped said.

"Missing curfew is trouble… that girl's a train wreck…" Quincy pursed his lips and took a deep breath.

"Next!" Boomer called. "Get a move on! We need this done before

Shortly thereafter, the guys walked in through the double doors of the school cafeteria. It's wide array of colors and events. Paper airplanes flew around, seemingly suspended in midair. A group of cross legged students sat, in dark colors, along with their food, suspended above a table, concentrating more than talking. Elsewhere, a group of kids in orange and blue letter man jackets high fived and bumped chests, standing, almost posing, on the eating benches. Near them a group of diminuitive guys and girls let robots run around on their lunch table, electric sparks flying here and there.

"Wow… okay, lemme see here…" Oscar's mouth dropped as he walked through the cafeteria towards the lunch line, turning and looking around as he did. Quincy just glanced side to side. Oscar nodded slowly. "Okay, there, we've got the Psionics. Real reclusive… moody, they do all that Mental power stuff. Mostly Stunt Heroes."

"You'd think people who knew next week's lottery numbers would have something to smile about." Quincy smirked.

Oscar laughed. "And the Jocks. All Power Heroes. They're the biggest and baddest and they love it." A couple looked over in their direction and just shrugged before returning to the raucous laughter at their own table, several girls huddled around.

"Aaaaand, the Geeks." Oscar gestured as he and Quincy arrived in the lunch line.

"OWNAGE!" One stood up and yelled, his small robot dog chewing on the leg of a more limber, now damaged robot, his friends hanging their heads in shame and disgrace.

"Those are the big ones… let's see… Outcasts…" Oscar nodded towards a group misfits in the corner, grungy with spikes of purple and green. "They claim to be mutants hated by society… we've got the Patriots…" young Mr. Reyes points towards a group of clean cut all-American styled red, white and blue clad students in polo shirts towards the middle of the cafeteria. "They REALLY love the American Way. And there's that one magic kid…" Oscar thumbs absent mindedly towards a young man who looks remarkably like Harry Potter. "He transferred from some magic school in England… poor guy, keeps muttering something about mischief managed or whatever…" Oscar shrugs. "So which group are you joining?"

Quincy turned at Oscar, looking at him like he had lost his mind. "Do I look like any of the other nutcases in here?"

Oscar smiled as he picked up his tray and held up his plate for food. "Glad you said other nutcases."

"Don't test me, Oscar, I'm not a… a grungy outcast." Quincy held up his plate likewise and mashed potatoes was heaved onto both plates. "Or, some clean cut white boy…"

"Wasn't your grandfather some old-school patriot-type?" Oscar looked up into the air trying to recall. "You are third gen, right?"

Quincy was quiet for a moment as he deadpan stared at Oscar. "How?? Nevermind." Quincy shook his head clear. "You're going to join the psychos? You're smart? Maybe you could build a little robot and…"

"See that?" Oscar commented as they walked out of the line. "I'm going our for the jocks. For the team." Oscar nodded with a smile.

Quincy narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "You're kidding. Those guys couldn't guess numbers between 1 and 10 with 11 tries."

Oscar grinned. "But they get the ladies, man… speaking of which, there goes your homegirl Selina…"

Quincy shook his head. "You and… say wha?" He turned to see Oscar jerking his head to the left, where Selina Banner, in her khaki shorts and pink top, sat, alone. Quincy froze for a bit.

Oscar was quiet for a moment as he backed up, then leaning forwards. "Our hero sees his beloved maiden from afar. His mind races… what will he do?"

"Shut up." Quincy deadpanned, watching Selina absent mindedly pike her chicken.

"This just in, ladies and gentlemen. He will shut up." Oscar couldn't help but smirk, even as Quincy pushed him aside.

Selina forked at her food, sighing a bit, she looked around, hoping to make friends. She looked up and saw Quincy standing there. "Hey… mind if I…"

"We…" Oscar came sliding up… and Quincy's smile faded.

"… sit here?" Quincy looked over at Oscar, who was all grins as he sat down.

"Sure… I don't mind. What's your names again?"

"Oscar Reyes. Power Booster."

"Quincy…" Quincy sat down slowly. "Quincy Knight. Nice to meet you, Selina"

Selina smiled softly, almost laughing. "Nice to meet you again too. Hey… what classes do you have?"

Quincy blinked and nodded slowly. Selina smiled a bit and giggled as she pulled her schedule out of her backpack.

Oscar looked back and forth between them. He nodded and then began speaking loudly leaning towards Quincy. "Oh, you mean the class schedule we got with our student handbook. Oh!" Oscar dug through his over the shoulder bag as Quincy shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Oh, yeah…" Quincy pulled his paper out of his pocket. "Let's see… Gym first period… Ugh…"

"Me too." Oscar kinda sunk in his seat. "What a way to start the day…"

"Hey," Selina asked leaning over the table and touching Quincy on the arm. "What do you have right after lunch?"

Quincy looked up. "… Superhero Ethics? With a Professor Iken?"

Selina's eyes lit up. "Me too! Awesome! We could trade notes, and stuff…"

Oscar nodded and sighed. "Well, my work here is done." He stood up to leave.

"Hey." Quincy's hand shot out as he grabbed Oscar's.

Selina looked up. "Oh, don't leave, Oscar, I was just getting to know you."

"Why can't we start our own clique?" Quincy looked up at Oscar with a rare smile. "Be our own people."

The thought slowly sat Oscar down.

"What do you mean?" Selina asked quizzically.

"Have you looked around? This place is more segregated than a 40's bus station." Quincy deadpanned and Selina chuckled. "What if…" he looked at Oscar for emphasis. "What if we just were 'us.'"

"We need a name." Selina grinned.

"Sidekicks." Oscar chimed in with a snap of his fingers.

"Whoa… sidekicks??" Quincy's head spun towards Oscar.

Selina's eyes lit up, she couldn't even resist clapping her hands. "Sidekicks! Yes! That's awesome!"

Quincy shook his head, scrunching his face in a mix of disbelief and rejection. "What? We're not going to be called 'sidekicks.' That's demeaning…" Quincy looked at a grinning Selina and a smirking Oscar. "You're not serious…"

A bell rung. The cafeteria began to bustle.

Selina got up with an easy grace and a smile. "See you later Oscar." She turned around and giggled at Quincy. "See you in class sidekick." She winked and walked off, sliding her tray on the conveyor belt as she exited.

Quincy slowly turned towards Oscar. Quincy's eyes were narrowed and he breathed shallow and hard. Oscar chuckled to himself, focused entirely on his jell-o pudding cup. Quincy grumbled. "Sidekicks."

At this, Oscar busted out laughing. Quincy just shook his head, holding back a smile as he got up and left the area, apparently headed off to class.

CONTINUED IN PART 3

Find out how Will Stronghold has been doing--and how Quincy will do in Save the Citizen! Sky High 2!


End file.
